Recently, I noticed that every time Itried to open a link on my Desktop Mac, it would go to my default Google launch page instead of opening the link. The only thing I had done recently was download the new latest version of Apple's High Sierra. As I was not having this problem when using Chrome previously, I figured it had something to do with Chrome interfacing with the new Apple iOS. It did!

I checked my chrome settings and everything looked fine. I then clicked on "About" under Chrome and saw that there was a newer version available. As soon as I downloaded it, problem solved! Windows are opening normally again. If you have recently downloaded High Sierra and use Chrome, this is the problem and it's a simple fix.

Boy, this has been a terrible year for Apple's Software development team. First, they release their new version of High Sierra with a major security flaw. It turns out anyone typing in the word "Root" as password without even entering a password becomes a "Super Administrator" and gets read and write access, of other user accounts on the same computer.

Apple apparently also has big problems with their recently released HomePod. I'd think not having multi room usage capability, or stereo pairing to be a big enough problem to delay release but they went ahead anyway. If this wasn't bad enough, there are now reports all over the internet that this device is also damaging wood furniture.

If the above issues weren't hurting Apple, covertly sneaking a processor throttling feature in an iOS software Update sure is. They are facing over 18 Class Action Lawsuit in the US alone. Their first solution after admitting to this was to offer their $79 batteries for $29 to those affected. The problem was that Apple stores were inundated and my local Apple store wouldn't even schedule and appointment for me. They wanted me to drive 40 miles away to another store that had available appointment times. Apple finally realized they had better reverse this problem and will soon be releasing a new iOS 11.3 software version with "Battery Management" settings allowing users to turn off the throttling very soon.

Just when they likely thought they had a handle on things, here comes possibly their biggest problem. Apparently, if anyone sends you a message containing a certain character in the Indian Language, your device will crash. It appears that Apple must be aware of this because the bug is not present in their iOS11.3 Beta version.

Recently, I had to give my vehicle back to the dealer to fix an issue. They graciously provided me a loaner car and said it could take a week. As the dealer was five freeways and forty miles away from my home, I decided to pair my phone to the loaner car's BlueTooth sound system before leaving the dealer's lot. It's illegal in the state of California to talk on your phone while holding it. I also didn't want to waste time on re-programming the radio stations. By pairing my phone with the car's BlueTooth system, I figured to solve that problem, along with the music by listening to my Amazon music. Step #1 was to go into the BlueTooth Pairing mode on the car and make it discoverable. I then attempted to pair it with my SmartPhone but kept getting an error message denying me.

As this has been my business for the last 25 years, I quickly determined the problem was capacity. The last three people to use this loaner vehicle had apparently also paired their devices. You can only have three paired devices simultaneously and I was obviously #4.

​Two of the three users had actually downloaded and left all of their contacts. Next time you rent a car, or receive a loaner car, it's okay to sync the BlueTooth services. In many cases, you will even be prompted on whether you wish for all of your contacts to be downloaded. If you plan to use your phone for outbound calls, this is a good idea. If not, don't bother. In any case, before turning the vehicle in, make sure you go the car's settings>BlueTooth>Devices and be sure to delete your device which will also delete all of its contents. In my case, I deleted all of the other devices.

It's all about "Band 71" and the LG V30 is the first phone to support T-Mobile's newest 600mHZ network. This will give TM the rural coverage they lacked previously. It should also give T-Mobile better indoor coverage too.

What to Know

Eligibility: Purchase any two LG G6, V30 or V30+ phones on EIP and receive up to $850 via 24 monthly bill credits on the line for the lesser-valued device.

EIP for both phones is required and must be on the same account.

Limit of six discounted devices per BAN.

DocuSign must be completed during the promotional period. The EIP agreement must also be generated within the promotional period and the customer must sign the EIP agreement before the EIP agreement expires.

Inform: All taxes (including tax on pre-credit price), fees and any applicable down payments will be required at the time of purchase. Eligible customers will automatically be enrolled in the promotion. Customers must maintain active lines of service on the purchased devices EIP to keep getting the promotional credits.

One of the wireless industries best kept secrets has always been that Verizon is the only carrier that sells their SmartPhones totally unlocked. Why would they do this when none of the other carriers did? This was a mandatory concession that they were forced to make when they petitioned the FCC to allow them to acquire 700mHZ bandwidth for 4G LTE.

This morning, Verizon decided they "want to help prevent iPhone theft" and will begin locking their SmartPhones again. I guarantee that they would have never tried this when Tom Wheeler, was the acting FCC Chairman. Verizon and the rest of the wireless industry powers wrongly thought that having an FCC Chairman that was a former President of one of their trade groups, the CTIA (Cellular Telephone Industry Association), would benefit them, not consumers. It turned out that Tom Wheeler did far more for consumers than the carriers. That's why AT&T and Verizon were probably jumping up and down doing cartwheels when the POTUS installed Ajit Pai as his new FCC Director. Mr Pai's top priority was to reverse Mr Wheeler's Net Neutrality policy and re-establish their "Old Boys" relationship.

What I find almost humorous is the fact that Verizon either forgot, or totally ignores the fact that they, along with the other carriers and the CTIA joined together to include antitheft tools making it all but impossible to unlock and reuse these phones. If Verizon is to be believed, thieves would be asking their victims what network their phones were with before stealing them. As Apple does not allow carrier branding on their devices, it is impossible to tell which carrier an iPhone is with by looking at the device. My colleagues at CNN did an interesting article about this.

Why does any of this matter and who gets the short end of the stick? The rest of the industry is watching. Now that the FCC has reversed Net Neutrality and turned over wireless issues to the FTC, I doubt there will be any fines or negative repercussions for Verizon, even though they would appear to be in violation of their "C-Block" agreement.To make matters worse, even if you were to pay off your device in full, most carriers require a minimum 30-50 days before they will unlock your device. That means if you are traveling overseas and want to purchase an overseas SIM card, forget it or plan well ahead. Same if you want to move your device to another carrier. You will now need to contact Verizon who will need to contact Apple to unlock it in their Network Operation Command center.

​Starting February 16 for a limited time, Business and Government customers with 1-12 voice lines who buy an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus on an eligible T-Mobile ONE voice plan can get $150 OFF (via mail-in rebate).

What to Know

Eligibility: Activate or add a voice line to a T-Mobile ONE taxes included or excluded plan and purchase an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus (all memory variants and colors) on EIP to get $150 off (via mail-in rebate).

Only Business accounts with 12 voice lines or less are eligible.

Limit of 12 discounted devices per account.

Sole Proprietor accounts and Business accounts with more than 12 voice lines are not eligible.

Inform: All device taxes, fees, and any applicable down payments are due at the time of purchase. Account must be active and in good standing to receive rebate.

DocuSign must be completed during the promotional period. The EIP agreement must also be generated within the promotional period and the customer must sign the EIP agreement before the EIP agreement expires.

Note: Offer can be combined with Carrier Freedom. Offer may not be combined with other iPhone offers in market.

Want one of these shipped directly to your door? Contact ﻿Dr Wireless﻿and we will make it happen!

There has not been anything exciting from T-Mobile since Last Year. Sure, they ran an iPhone and Samsung Galaxy BOGO deal, but so did all the other carriers. This morning, they finally broke something that I can get behind...

After all, who doesn't want a FREE Line of service? Use it as a back-up, for the kids, or just for emergencies. New and existing postpaid customers, including employees, and T-Mobile for Business customers with less than 12 Voice lines who have 2 paid voice lines on a qualified T-Mobile ONE family plan and activate 2 additional lines of service can get 1 of the additional lines free. That means 2 new lines of service for the price of 1!

Verizon recently brought back their iPhone BOGO deal. Buy one and get a second one of equal value for FREE!

​Since the FCC Chairman repealed Net Neutrality, I've been concerned that the public no longer has a regulatory body looking out for their best interests. Apple, LG, and Google have all recently found out that the next worst thing to a multi-million dollar FCC fine is a giant class action law suit.

LG recently settled their "BootLoop" suit. Anyone with an LG G4, LG V10, Nexus 5X from 2015, and 2016’s LG G5, and LG V20 may be eligible to collect up to $700 off for a new LG SmartPhone.

Unless you were stranded on Gilligan's Island for the last two months, you've likely heard about Apple's "Throttle Gate" fiasco. They admitted embedding software that would slow down speeds on processors in the iPhone 6, 7 and SE series without disclosing to the public.

Now, Google is feeling the wrath. Allegedly, they have been selling Pixel devices knowing that there is a defect with the microphone. Soon after it's release, hundreds of Pixel owners reported not being able to make calls, record audio with the camera app, or use Google Assistant because of a hardware fault that affected the microphone. Google management finally admitted there was an issue. They are now dealing with a class action suit as well.

What all this means is it pays to stay of top of these things. Unlike recalls, the end user is not always located to be notified. Hopefully, these suits will be a good learning experience for companies that try to covertly hide these kinds of issues, rather than immediately admit, confront and rectify them.

As an independent wireless dealer, Dr Wireless represents many companies. My opinion is that Verizon and T-Mobile are the two best performing wireless carriers. Have you ever wondered how T-Mobile and Verizon can both claim simultaneously that they have the fastest 4G LTE speeds? It's actually very simple. There are four major bench mark testing labs with various testing techniques. For some unknown reason, OOKLA and Open Source always rate T-Mobile fastest and best. JD Power and Rootmetrics always rate Verizon best.

When you see a T-Mobile advertisement like above, you can be sure it was OOKLA or open source who did the ratings. At the end of the day, both of these carriers are nearly identical in their offerings and quality of service. The real choice should boil down to one thing - International Travel versus rural coverage.

T-Mobile is by far, the better choice for global travelers. That's because they offer FREE text and data in over 140 countries. Mexico and Canada are considered local on all newer plans. Voice calling in these countries ranges from $0.20 to $0.30 per minute compared to up to $5 per minute with other carriers. No need to call the carrier to ad "bolt-on" roaming plans either.

You don't see those old annoying Verizon Wireless comparison maps anymore because T-Mobile spent $435 million on 700mHZ infrastructure in 2016 and $8 billion on 600mHZ infrastructure that is currently being rolled out with new devices to support it. That being said, if you drive cross country for a living, I think Verizon would still be my first choice.

As an independent professional wireless consultant, we make sure you chose the right provider and set everything up for a seamless transition. It doesn't cost any extra to get the red carpet VIP treatment from professionals as we are partnered with all the major carriers. Doctor wireless clients don't stand in store lines like peasants. That's because we take all the information over the phone and have your carrier of choice deliver to your home or office. Contact Dr Wireless for a free rate plan analysis.